


Adore

by moonlight_writes



Category: Fallout 4
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Romance, Swearing, spoilers?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-12
Updated: 2017-06-12
Packaged: 2018-11-13 08:45:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,604
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11181177
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moonlight_writes/pseuds/moonlight_writes
Summary: (Takes place after the events of the game.)After destroying the Institute, Jonas (Sole Survivor) leaves Sanctuary to go visit his closest friend Danse.





	1. You got me screamin' my, my, my

It's minutes before 4 in the morning when Jonas wakes up and begins gathering his stuff together to go visit his close friend.

-

As Jonas finishes packing up a small bag, the hears the familiar raspy voice of a certain Mayor. "Where're you headed at this hour?" 

Jonas can see the red of Hancock's jacket out of the corner of his eye and he stands up straight, wincing at the sound of his back cracking. "I uh, I'm gonna go visit Danse. It's been a while." He explains to the ghoul, grabbing the bag by one of it's straps. Hancock leans against the wall and crosses his arms, tilting his head curiously. "I thought he was...?" The ghoul trails of his slight confusion.

Jonas searches through his bedroom in his pre-war home, looking for his trusty Plasma Rifle. "It's a long story. But to make it short..." Jonas stops talking for a second to grab the glowing green weapon from under his bed. "I managed to convince Maxon to leave him be." He says shortly, grabbing a couple handfuls of Plasma cartridges and securing them in the handmade ammunition belt around his waist, right next to some grenades.

Jonas hears Hancock hum from his spot near the door. "When's the next story time?" He asks sarcastically, pushing himself from the wall. Jonas rolls his eyes and punches the ghoul's shoulder lightly. "I'll see you in a couple days." He tells his friend before walking out of the bedroom and through the door of the house. Jonas begins walking to the bridge leading into Sanctuary, giving small nods to some of the settlers who were up early to do their jobs.

As he nears the edge of the neighborhood, the hears a familiar sound of claws scrapping against the concrete. He turns around just in time for Dogmeat to jump up and press his paws against his chest. Jonas can't hold back the quiet chuckles and he scratches behind the dogs ears. "I'll be back soon, buddy. Don't worry." He says to his first companion, planting a kiss on the top of his head.

Dogmeat drops back to the ground and gives a small bark before running off towards MacCready, who's standing outside his own house, smoking. Jonas raises a hand at him and the mercenary offers the same gesture back. "Don't get yourself killed!" He calls after Jonas. The latter simply sticks his thumb up and makes his way over the bridge, reminding himself that he needs to get it fixed one of these days before it collapses on some poor trader or settler.

Jonas treads through the Commonwealth with a pistol held tightly in his hand, checking his Pip-boy every fifteen-to-twenty minutes to make sure he's going the right way. 

\- - - -

After some hours pass, Jonas spots the bunker in the distance and he speeds up slightly, eager to see his friend once again. It's been a few weeks and he's been feeling guilty for leaving Danse alone for all this time. The poor man probably hasn't had much company.

Jonas approaches the door and walks into the bunker. He makes his way to the elevator and presses the button to call it up. Once he's in the elevator, he presses the button to go down and the doors close, surrounding him in almost complete darkness. The elevator seems to go down slower than it had when it went up and Jonas taps his foot impatiently, feeling anxious to see the former Paladin for some reason.

The elevators soon open up and Jonas steps out, exhaling slowly. He maneuvers through the hole in the wall, past the small pool of water and into the main room where Danse had been when Jonas was sent to execute him. 

He lest his bag drop to the floor and he rests his Plasma Rifle against the wall. He looks up from the floor to see Danse sitting on a bed, his elbows resting on his knees. His gaze is fixated on the ground and he seems to be in deep thought. Jonas doesn't know what to do at first and he awkwardly stands in the "doorway" for a full minute before he clears his throat lightly. "Danse?" 

The man seems to come out of his thoughts and looks up in alarm, only to relax slightly at the sight of Jonas. Jonas raises an eyebrow slightly at the synth, concerned. "You feeling okay?" He asks. Danse blinks at him for a few seconds before he nods his head. "Yeah," He stops to clear his throat. "I'm fine." He re, plies shortly, sitting up straighter. Jonas stares at Danse for a few more seconds before he leaves the matter alone. "Sorry I didn't come sooner. I would have but... it's been pretty busy in Sanctuary lately." He utters out, sitting down next to Danse. 

The black-haired man brushes it off. "It's alright. I understand." He says, his voice seeming more... quiet then usual. His voice is no longer the loud, stern tone it usually is. Jonas looks around the room as silence falls over them once more. It's mostly cleared out now, the dirt and rubble has been cleared out of the space. A small filing cabinet is placed behind one end of the bed and there's a bottle of whiskey and a bottle of wine on top of it, as well as an old alarm clock and a few glass cups. From the look of it, Danse has really made this place his home now...

After a few minutes, Jonas decides to ask the man next to him. "Danse, are you sure you're okay?" He asks the question slowly, like it'll help get the question into Danse's mind.

The latter seems to freeze for a moment, having to process the question other than ignoring like he had done before. "I... I don't know." 

Jonas looks at his friend, his eyebrows furrowed. "What do you mean you 'don't know'? What's going on with you? You're not acting like yourself." He rambles out.

Danse stares ahead at the wall in front of them. "How could I act like myself after everything that has happened, Jonas?" He doesn't mean to sound so cruel as he speaks. He feels guilty as Jonas flinches at the tone of his voice.

Jonas blinks at him. Danse has never called him by his first name before.

"This is where I should give a really long and dramatic, heartfelt speech, but I'm not good at giving advice and I'm horrible with words," The corner of Danse's mouth twitches slightly. "But I'm here if you need to talk." Jonas says with a small smile and the small gesture and silly words lift Danse's mood more than it has been in the past few weeks.

"Thank you." Danse simply says, returning the smile to his only friend. Jonas' smile grows. "No need to thank me." He tells him, happy to see his best friend smiling. Even if it as rare, it was nice to see.

"The place looks nice, by the way." Jonas says, looking around the room once again. "I almost didn't recognize it."

Danse looks around the space as well, nodding his head. He didn't know what else to say. For some reason, he felt almost... nervous, sitting next to the pre-war soldier. And he didn't know why. He's never felt this way before and it's weird to him. And confusing.

Jonas suddenly gasps and stands up. "By the way, I got you something," He says, going over to his bag. Danse watches him, his eyes involuntarily moving up and down the shorter males body. Danse shakes his head slightly, silently scolding himself. 

Jonas pulls an object wrapped in cloth out of his bag. "Well, I didn't get it. I uhm... I made it. With the help of Shaun..." He trails off, looking down at the present in his hands. He then holds it out to Danse with a small, lopsided smile. "Here."

Danse looks at Jonas, one eyebrow raised the slightest bit and he slowly takes the object within his hands. He removes the cloth and his eyes are met with a laser rifle. The words 'Wazer Wifle' were scrawled on the barrel of the gun in black marker. Danse's gaze switches between the laser weapon and a nervous looking Jonas. The corner of the former Paladin's mouth turns up and he looks at Jonas once again. "Thank you, Jonas. But... May I ask why you made this for me?" 

Jonas blanks out for a minute. Why did he make the gun for Danse? He couldn't really answer that question, he just wanted to make Danse happy after what had happened. But he couldn't say that out loud, could he? That he just wanted to make him happy?

With a silent prayer to not make anything awkward, Jonas speaks. "I-I just wanted to see you happy, I guess." He utters out, his face beginning to feel uncomfortably hot. Danse is surprised by his answer and he looks down at the weapon once more to avoid eye contact. "Th-That's very kind of you."

Jonas just smiles and sits back down next to Danse. Danse gingerly sits the gun down on the small file cabinet Jonas had seen earlier and looks at him. "How has it been since the Institute was destroyed?"

 


	2. 'Cause you're what I adore, babe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Night time has come and Jonas begins to feel emotional about his family once again. But this time, he doesn't have to go through it alone.

It's only two in the morning when Jonas wakes up in a slight daze. He panics at first, not knowing where he is but he soon remembers that he's at Listening Post Bravo, or Danse's home. Jonas pushes himself into the sitting position and rubs his eyes tiredly. 

He had another nightmare. A memory. One that hasn't surfaced his mind in almost a whole month. He can feel his heart beating a mile a minute and he rubs his hands over his face, sighing. He can never escape the image of his wife being killed. It's like it's been branded into his mind and every once in a while it pops up just to say hi. Like an annoying relative that disappears for months at a time, then comes up just to ask for money. Horrible example but, ah well.

Jonas looks around the room and doesn't see Danse anywhere in sight. Jonas' shoulders slump slightly but he brushes it off and slowly stands up from the bed that Danse insisted he'd sleep on, saying that he doesn't need much sleep anyway. Jonas grabs his Pip-boy and checks the time before he puts it back down and walks over to his bag. He pulls out a can of purified water and pulls off the top of it, quickly downing the entire can in seconds.

He slumps against the wall and closes his eyes, sighing deeply. "I'm sorry." He mumbles under his breath, hoping that somehow, Nora and Shaun could hear him. But far back in his mind, he knew they couldn't. He feels like he's failed them in a way. He knows he shouldn't but he does, and he doesn't know how to stop it. A part of him feels like he should've sided with in Institute, but another part of him knows he did the right thing.

Jonas' eyes begin filling with tears as he unwillingly thinks back to before the world had went to complete shit. Before he and his family were broken apart by said world. Jonas brings his knees up to his chest and he presses his forehead against his kneecaps. With his arms wrapped tightly around his legs, Jonas no longer tries to hold back the tears and he breaks down.

And it felt damn good to let all of the bottled up emotions out. He doesn't even notice the presence next to him until an arm is placed around his shoulders. Jonas doesn't even need to look up to know it's Danse and he moves his head to rest on the larger males shoulder. Danse gives Jonas' shoulder a small squeeze as he silently comforts him.

Jonas' shoulders shake slightly with every silent sob that leaves his mouth, his eyes screwed shut and his fists clenched so tightly that his knuckles start to turn while and his nails dig into his palms. Danse patiently waits for the man to calm down, not bothering to say anything just yet because he knows it won't do too much good. So instead, he continues holding him and his mind wanders to a conversation he and the Sole Survivor had just a few months prior.

 

~ ~ ~ ~

_"If you have the time to talk now, I'd still like to know what you think about Scribe Haylen." Danse stood in front of Jonas. The shorter male has to look up at the Paladin, being that he's in Power Armor._

_Jonas hummed lightly. "I don't think I know her well enough to give you a military evaluation." He replied, confused as to why Danse has asked him the question out of nowhere._

_"That's a shame. Perhaps you should spend more time working with her then. She's a model soldier." Danse told him, moving his armor-clad arms slightly. "But I wasn't looking for an evaluation of her performance as a scribe. I wanted to know what you thought of Haylen...as a person." He added shortly after._

_Jonas' eyebrows go up slightly and he stood up straighter, a small smirk coming onto his face. "So there is a heart beating under all that armor after all." He said in a teasing tone._

_Danse gave the smallest of smiles. "I suppose I deserve that. I just don't normally find these discussions easy to handle, so I try to avoid them at all costs," Danse paused for a second. "The truth is, I'm worried about her. Since you and I are getting along so well, I feel like I could confide in you about it...to get your honest opinion."_

_Jonas furrows his brows a little. "This seems like something you should be discussing with Haylen." He said slowly._

_Danse stood straight, his armor clanking quietly. "If you'd allow me to explain, I think you'd understand precisely why that wouldn't be appropriate," Danse said, his facial expression remaining serious. "A few months before you found us, one of my men was shot multiple times by Raiders. Haylen stayed by that Knight's side for two days straight without sleep fighting to keep him alive... but he was on a slow decline." Danse pauses once more as his facial expression goes grim. "I decided that his suffering need to end and ordered Haylen to administer an overdose of painkillers so he could die with dignity. Even though I'm certain she wanted to continue fighting for that Knight's life, she injected him without question."_

_Jonas shifted on his feet, still wondering why they were having this conversation in the middle of Diamond City. "Are you asking whether or not I...approve?"_

_Danse shook his head. "Of course not. I stand by ever order I've given. That solider was gravely wounded. Even if by some miracle he happened to survive, he would have been paralyzed for life. But the decision whether or not to ease that solider's suffering isn't the point here. The point is what happened later that same evening."_

_Jonas gave a small nod to let Danse know that he had his undivided attention. He was curious about where this conversation was headed. A little part of him also just wanted to listen to the Paladin's voice._

_The man's light brown eyes narrowed slightly, almost in sadness, as he recalled the memory. "Haylen approached me while I was on watch. She didn't say a word, but I could tell something was wrong. After what felt like an eternity, she collapsed in my arms, crying. I...didn't know what to do, so I just held her for a while. A few minutes later, she stopped, kissed me on the cheek and simply said "Thank you" before heading back into the police station. Right then it hit me...maybe I pushed her too hard. I ordered her to ignore her instincts. To do something her medical training told her was wrong. That why I'm worried about her...and for that matter, everyone else under my command."_

_Jonas frowned at Danse's words and he slowly realized what the conversation was about. "Don't use Haylen as an excuse. This is about you." He told his friend._

_Danse looked down at his feet for a short moment. "Yeah, I suppose you're right," He admitted. "Look, four soldiers... over half of my team, are gone. Each one of them died because of decision that I made. I understand the risks that come with job, we all do..." Danse trailed off, his gaze wandering off for a few seconds. "But how can anyone have confidence in me anymore? Hell, how can I have confidence in myself?" Danse asked, his eyebrows furrowing in frustration._

_Jonas felt sorry for the soldier in front of him. He didn't know what to say at first, his eyes going to the Brotherhood of Steel logo on the front of Danse's Power Armor. He then raised to look at Danse once again. "The way you held Haylen tells me you care about them...and they care about you."_

_Danse seemed taken aback by the words and his eyebrows went up, making his eyes seem wider.. "I...I never thought of it that way," He said, studying Jonas' face. "Well, it looks like things have taken a turn. I signed up to be your sponsor so I could teach you everything that I know, but it looks like I'm the one that needed the lesson today." The corner of his mouth twitched a little, a tiny smile showing itself. "All joking aside," The smile slowly drops as Danse becomes serious once again. "I'm pleased that we had this discussion and with all of problems you're facing, you still took the time to listen. It's... comforting to know that I can speak to you as more than just your commanding officer." Danse tells Jonas._

_The latter smiled at the Paladin's words and that smile soon turns into a small, playful smirk. " **Does this mean you'll be there to hold me if I ever needed it?** " He meant it as a joke, but a big part of him had really meant the words._

_Danse suddenly became very flustered, his eyes widening. "I...I don't know. I never thought you'd ask me something like that." He uttered out. " **It would depend... on the circumstances, but I suppose we'll just have to see what happens when the time comes**." He said, sounding a fit uncomfortable but he still smiled at the male in front of him. "Anyway, thanks for letting me get that off my shoulders. I think it's been weighing on me more than I realized. I'm only sorry you had to see me at my worst instead of at my best." Danse apologized._

~ ~ ~ ~ 

If Danse has to admit, that's when his feelings really started to progress towards the pre-war man. He never really thought about having a relationship with anyone, but if he did, it'd have to be with Jonas.

He's pulled from his thoughts by the sound of Jonas laughing quietly. Danse looks down at the black haired man, confused. "I guess you are gonna hold me if I ever need it, huh?" Jonas says, slowly sitting up and wiping his cheeks of his tears. Danse smiles a little and can't help but let out a rare chuckle as he sits up straight, his back moving away from the wall. "I suppose so." He says, watching Jonas run a hand through the hair of the top of his head. He'll need to get the sides and back trimmed down again, seeing as Jonas is very picky about his hair sometimes.

Jonas looks back at Danse and studies his face. "But really... thanks, Danse." He smiles sheepishly. The only other person he ever cried in front of was Nora, after they had found out she was pregnant with Shaun. Danse stares at Jonas and Jonas finds himself staring back at the handsome synth, his green eyes studying Danse's brown eyes. Jonas runs his tongue over his lips quickly before he leans in and presses his lips to Danse's.

He can hear Danse make a small noise of surprise and before he could pull away and apologize, he feels Danse's lips mold against his own and a hand hold his jaw. Jonas raises a hesitant hand up to Danse's neck, lightly gripping onto the collar of his t-shirt. 

They both pull back from the kiss, their eyes wide and each of them are flustered. Jonas feels Danse run his thumb against his jawline and he presses his forehead against Jonas' own. Jonas rests his hand on Danse's knee and closes his eyes. "I'm uh... I'm sorry." He apologizes even though he doesn't have. Danse shakes his head slightly. "You don't need to be." He says in a quiet tone, slowly dropping his hand from Jonas' face.

Jonas opens his eyes and inhales slowly before leaning in to kiss Danse once again. Danse responds almost immediately as he moves both of his hands to hold Jonas' face. Jonas' hand moved to the back of Danse's neck while the other moves to rest of his chest. Jonas moves closer to the ex-soldier and deepens the kiss the slightest bit, not wanting to move too fast with... whatever this was.

Danse pulls away after a moment and looks at Jonas. "If I must be completely honest I...absolutely **adore** you." He whispers.


End file.
